COBDEN — A Whitewater Region council member changed his mind when it came to allowing an extra 20 hours of banked overtime for management staff for 2015, retroactive to Jan. 1.
When this issue was discussed at the committee meeting, Councillor Charlene Jackson requested a recorded vote. She was the only council member to vote against allowing an extra 20 hours of banked overtime for management staff for 2015.
Mayor Hal Johnson had thought the issue over since the corporate services committee and decided that it is something that should be agreed to at the start of a year, not the end. Council has had no way of controlling the overtime hours, he said.
Coun. Jackson noted this was not a motion put forward by staff, but by council. Councillor Daryl McLaughlin and Mayor Johnson then began to dialogue.
Coun. McLaughlin questioned the reasoning behind Mayor Johnson’s turn-around.
“We are doing something we did not budget for,” Mayor Johnson said. “We can negotiate this for the next budget and that’s fine.”
Coun. McLaughLin questioned how this would affect the budget, since there is no money being exchanged.
Mayor Johnson agreed money is not being exchanged, but staff will be off, which means a loss of work getting done.
Coun. McLaughlin noted however, that other work was done by staff since they were working overtime.
Mayor Johnson said when the managers were hired, they knew what they had to accomplish in a certain period of time.
Coun. McLaughlin wants the discussion of overtime held in January so the onus is taken off staff.
“What can we do to cut down the hours?” he questioned.
Mayor Johnson said he would be in favour of discussing increasing the hours at the start of the year.
Councillor Dave Mackay feels some overtime occurred because of the inexperienced council members, who sometimes took longer to understand certain things. He noted there may not be as many overtime hours for management staff with committee day meetings for January, February and March.
A recorded vote was again taken, this time with Coun. Jackson and Mayor Johnson dissenting
